Fall Flavors

Posted on Oct 10, 2018

By Debra Nessel R,D., C.D.E. .

Now that you’ve covered up the barbeque and prepared your last fruit
salad for the summer are you thinking of going into hibernation for the
winter? Think again! This is a great time of year to enjoy the warm and
flavorful foods of fall!

There's something special about fall flavors that speaks to our hearts
as well as our stomachs. Autumn represents tradition and celebration which
usually means comfort foods and over eating. This is the perfect time
of year to reassess your current diet and exercise routine and outline
an early New Year resolution list. Use these early resolutions to get
you through the upcoming holiday season when over indulging and lapse
of exercise can leave you open to weight gain.

The autumn brings a harvest of fruits and vegetables unique to the season.
Make the most of them with some of my favorite fall recipes.

Pumpkins make great jack-o-lanterns and they're also great for nutritious and
flavorful meals. Pumpkin provides carotenoids to help fight heart disease
and cancer, vitamins C, E and riboflavin, iron, fiber and potassium. You
could run out and start making pumpkin pies or you could try something
healthier like my pumpkin parfait.

Beets It is difficult to believe from the rough looking exterior of raw beets
how they can be transformed into something wonderfully soft and buttery
once they are cooked. These colorful root vegetables contain powerful
nutrient compounds that help protect against heart disease, birth defects
and certain cancers, especially colon cancer.